Bamboo's Message to the World

"And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it [is] secret?"

Many plants reproduce simply by cloning. The most obvious example of cloning that comes to mind is the dandelion. Unless you get all of the main dandelion root out of the ground, each piece of the root can sprout another dandelion, identical to the parent.

The walking fern reproduces by cloning too. It moves across the countryside, albeit slowly, by producing new plants. A new plant is generated wherever the tips of its leaves touch the ground. Each new plant is identical to the parent.

The bamboo reproduces through underground stems. The different species of bamboo live anywhere from 20 to 120 years. During their life spans, they produce only by cloning. Then they flower – once. When it's time for a particular species to flower, every member of that species, no matter where in the world it grows, flowers gloriously. Each flower can have as many as 100 pollen-producing stamens. Once the seeds are ripe and scattered, every member of that species in the world dies. At this point, the entire species exists only in the scattered seeds.

This is brilliant testimony to a recent creation of all bamboos at the same time. If evolution produced them and the forces of change worked on them for millions of years, one would think that all members of the same species would no longer be in perfect synchronization. Bamboo makes a strong testimony for the recent creation reported in Genesis!

Prayer:

Dear Father in heaven, I am continually amazed at the wonderful variety of life You have created. Help me to see more clearly how the creation witnesses to You and then voice that witness to those around me. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Notes:

Batten, Mary. 1983. "Sex & plants." Science Digest, Oct. p. 61.

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